LEADERSHIP - INDIAN CONTEXT | DHARMIC LEADERSHIP

 Leadership is the natural ability of any individual to direct any one or a group of people towards getting some goal accomplished.

Leadership in the Indian context is a “build-up” process. It an overall build-up of various human attributes that one builds up from his younger days to be accepted as a Leader.

Leadership in the Indian context has its foundations on ethical base and character of the individual. They are paramount for a person to be accepted as a Leader. Results have to ensue from a strong ethical base and character (following the Dharma-Artha-Kaama-Moksha path).

As a result of his ethical behavior and moral practices, he commands respect and inspires others to follow him. Thus he commands, rather than demands respect.

Such people who have rigorously lived a Dharmic life automatically qualify to be a Leader, and when they run businesses they run Dharmic businesses, based on human values and relationships leading to profits.

Unlike in the Indian context Leaders in the West are driven by tangible factors of achievement and material success. As a matter of fact, leaders in West are focused on issues of dominant leadership, where leaders are glorified and talked about as super achievers, with media exposure. In the Indian context, on the other hand, Leaders emerge from a background that comes from acceptance by society, (because of the virtues) and not by “being thrust” upon them. He is pleasantly and willingly accepted as a leader more by nomination than by “thrust and domination”. Indian leaders are accepted as leaders only when they are seen to be Dharmic in action, whereas the Western leaders are accepted as leaders when they are result-oriented and goal focused, the Dharmic part of the task, being given a secondary or little importance (more by default rather than design).

Leadership is symbolic of hero worship in the Indian context, because the Indian leader is seen as a paragon of virtue from which emerges results and goal achievement. While in the Western context, the Leadership symbolism is functional in content. Beyond the functional aspect, there is hardly any “mass hysteria” over the Leadership position.

 

DHARMIC LEADERSHIP

We have come across principle-centered Leadership which Stephen Covey talks about. Simply stated, Dharmic Leadership is an all-encompassing approach towards leading people into goal achievement. It emphasizes as much on the means as on the ends. In fact, there is a greater emphasis on the means.

Dharmic Leadership is based on the concept of Dharma, which includes the path of Truth & Righteousness. In the corporate context, to be a Dharmic Leader is not easy. On one hand we have the challenges of performance in a highly competitive marketplace, while on the other hand we have the brand/image of the company to be maintained in the marketplace as a truly fair and ethical player.

 While in the past due to certain compulsions, companies “mindlessly” and/or “ignorantly” emphasized on results (ends) and did not give importance to the means, in the global businesses of today, companies have increasingly become conscious of their brand and image. To create an enduring true brand, one needs to be value-centered, in other words Dharmic centered. Hence Dharmic Leadership is more relevant today and imperative to be understood and followed and propagated.